Protocyon

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title: "Protocyon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cerdocyonina", "prehistoric-canines", "prehistoric-carnivoran-genera", "pleistocene-carnivorans", "pleistocene-mammals-of-south-america", "pleistocene-mammals-of-north-america", "lujanian", "pleistocene-argentina", "fossils-of-argentina", "pleistocene-bolivia", "fossils-of-bolivia", "pleistocene-brazil", "fossils-of-brazil", "pleistocene-ecuador", "fossils-of-ecuador", "pleistocene-mexico", "fossils-of-mexico", "pleistocene-uruguay", "fossils-of-uruguay", "pleistocene-venezuela", "fossils-of-venezuela", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1855"] description: "Extinct genus of carnivores" topic_path: "geography/argentina" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocyon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of carnivores ::

| fossil_range = Late Pliocene-Late Pleistocene ~ | image = | image_caption = Artist reconstruction of a pack of Protocyon hunting a large ground sloth Glossotherium | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Protocyon | authority = Giebel, 1855 | type_species = Canis troglodytes | type_species_authority = Lund, 1838 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

• P. troglodytes (Lund, 1838)
• P.? tarijensis (Ameghino, 1902)
• P. scagliarum Kraglievich, 1952
• P. orocualensis Ruiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón, 2022 | synonyms =
• Theriodictis tarijense? Ameghino, 1902
• P. orcesi Hoffstetter, 1952 Protocyon (from Greek for "first dog") is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and possibly North America from the Late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene.

Description

Protocyon was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like many other large canids, it was most likely a pack hunter. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browsers, and bite marks on fossils suggest that it may have hunted Glyptotherium. The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in Brazil suggests a weight of between 25 and for this particular specimen, modest in size compared to other canids including the dire wolf. However, despite its size, isotopic analysis shows a dietary overlap with Smilodon populator, which implies it competed with the sabertooth cat for the same prey.

Taxonomy

Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988. The genus definitively contains P. troglodytes (with its junior synonym P. orcesi) and P. scagliarum. Some researchers propose that the species Theriodictis tarijensis falls under the genus Protocyon. In 2022, Ruiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón named a new species from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene strata, P. orocualensis.

Palaeoecology

The diet of P. troglodytes included Notiomastodon platensis, Megatherium americanum, Toxodon platensis, Hippidion principale, and Equus neogeus. In contrast to its contemporary carnivores S. populator and Arctotherium wingei, dental stable isotope evidence shows P. troglodytes in the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) had a preference for open savanna environments.

Bone damage

Protocyon has been attributed to bone damage on specimens recovered from Jirau (Eremotherium, Notiomastodon, Glossotherium), Águas de Araxá (Notiomastodon), and possibly La Plata (toxodontid).

Fossil distribution

Fossils of Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, the Vorohue Formation of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador, Sopas Formation of Uruguay, Mene de Inciarte Tar Seep of Venezuela and various sites in Brazil, among others the Jandaíra Formation.

Canid fossil material from the Hoyo Negro pit in the Sac Actun cave system (Mexico), initially identified as remains of a coyote, was reinterpreted as remains of P. troglodytes by , indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America. The youngest known specimen of P. troglodytes is dated to 20,288-21,139 calibrated BP.

References

References

1. (1 May 2016). "Paleobiology of sabretooth cat Smilodon populator in the Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) around the Last Glacial Maximum: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in bone collagen". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
2. Prevosti, F. J.. (2023). "Sistemática de los grandes cánidos (Mammalia, Carnivora,Canidae) fósiles de América del Sur". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina.
3. (2010). "Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a "total evidence" approach". Cladistics.
4. (2022). "Canids (Caninae) from the Past of Venezuela". Ameghiniana.
5. (14 August 2013). "First taxon date and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) for the large hypercarnivorous South American canid Protocyon troglodytes (Canidae, Carnivora)". [[Quaternary International]].
6. (4 March 2022). "Isotopic palaeoecology ( δ 13 C) of three faunivores from Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian intertropical region". [[Historical Biology]].
7. (2011-12-30). "Marcas de dentes de carnívoros/carniceiros em mamíferos pleistocênicos do Nordeste do Brasil". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia.
8. (March 2011). "Evidence of scavenging on remains of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi (Proboscidea: Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Brazil: Taphonomic and paleoecological remarks". Journal of South American Earth Sciences.
9. (2017-05-09). "Direct evidence of megamammal-carnivore interaction decoded from bone marks in historical fossil collections from the Pampean region". PeerJ.
10. (2013). "First taxon date and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) for the large hypercarnivorous South American canid ''Protocyon troglodytes'' (Canidae, Carnivora)". Quaternary International.

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